WARRENTON, North Carolina — The U.S. Department of Justice has, once again, sued the Warren County Board of Education in North Carolina over its treatment of a military reservist.

U.S. attorneys said the complaint, filed Wednesday, is meant to protect the rights guaranteed to U.S. Army Reserve Command Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Coffer, by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, 1994 legislation signed into law by former President Bill Clinton.

They allege that the Warren school system stripped Coffer of his position as dean of students at Warren County Middle School in the summer of 2017 while he was away for about five weeks of active duty. Instead of putting him back in the job, the system offered him a position as a gym teacher.

The 1994 law protects the rights of uniformed service members to retain their civilian jobs following absences because of military service obligations, officials in U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon's office said.

The NYPD officer caught on viral video fending off a band of subway vagrants without reaching for his gun has handled himself well under pressure before — he’s a U.S. Army veteran who’s served in Iraq and Afghanistan, police said.

Tom note: Here is the seventh entry in our 10 Long March posts for 2018, the 4th most-read item of the year, which originally ran on April 23, 2018. These posts are selected based on what’s called ‘total engaged minutes’ (the total number of time spent reading and commenting on an article) rather than page views, which the T&P; editors see as a better reflection of Long March reader interest and community. Thanks to all of you for reading, and for commenting–which is an important part of this column.

A 27-year-old Chinese national who served in the U.S. Army Reserve was arrested Tuesday on a federal charge of helping China-based intelligence operatives recruit spies living in this country, according to federal prosecutors.